Saturday’s Post 12.31.11 – Hartford Auto Insurance Company will join the growing list of auto insurance carriers who offer clients the opportunity to earn breaks on their policy rates through the use of devices that track miles driven, driving speed and other essential data automatically. The beta of a program titled “TrueLane” will be available within the first six months of 2012. This technology will provide a record of driving behaviors, and provides a discount on their auto insurance rates. According to a Hartford Auto Insurance spokesperson, the system will keep track of clients’ driving activities for a specific period of their policy and make them eligible for a discount upon the first renewal of their auto insurance policy based on the information provided by the tracker. The TrueLane tracking device stores driving data and sends that information back via cell towers to The Hartford for storage and analysis. The program is voluntary tracking program offered as an incentive to qualified auto insurance policy holders. The device captures driving information on driving speed, miles logged, braking patterns, turns, rates of acceleration and data about the times when the insured vehicle is being operated.

This technology will likely establish The Hartford among the upper echelon of major insurance carriers – ranks that include State Farm Insurance, Allstate Insurance Company , Travelers Insurance Company and Progressive Auto Insurance Company. These carriers all offer electronic tracking devices to report data from a client’s car back to the auto insurance company. These devices remove many of the uncertainties from offering auto insurance policies by giving insurance carriers the information they need to make underwriting decisions that exceeds the quality of self-reporting, or information on clients available from public sources. In addition; these advancements means Car Insurance Underwriters can effectively look at risk factors and premiums with more accuracy than ever before. This should lead carriers to offer rewards to motorists such as auto coverage discounts for keeping their mileage limited, and adhering to safe driving practices in their everyday vehicle operation.